International Patent # PCT/US2014/031237, University of South Florida, D.P. D’Agostino, S. Kesl, P. Arnold, “Compositions and Methods for Producing Elevated and Sustained Ketosis”. P. Arnold (Savind) has received financial support (ONR N000140610105 and N000140910244) from D.P. D’Agostino (USF) to synthesize ketone esters. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest.

BHB Salts and exogenous ketone supplements are literally changing the supplement industry. These products are pretty new and a little more expensive than other supplements. But I’d rather pay for something that works then spend tons of money chasing products that claim to work. One of the most popular ketone supplements is Ketōnd. You can check out our review here.

However, with the ketone esters, the effects are nearly immediate, and my entire body was humming throughout the entire day, but not in a jittery way. I was full of mental and physical energy that lasted without any sort of crash (it was a gradual taper). During my cognitive tests, things felt almost effortless as I played the various games. After my experiment was complete I continued writing code for several hours, then went to the gym to work out. I did forget to each lunch though, so there must be some suppressive effect on appetite.
Exogenous Ketones have been shown in performance studies of both humans and animals to improve metabolic efficiency, which in essence means that your body is using better fuel that burns more efficiently over longer periods of time, and decreases the amount of fuel you need while performing. Where glucose fails (glycogen depletion), ketones pick up the slack!
Even though endurance athletes can train in a carb depleted state, they will generally consume carbohydrates in the lead up to a race (the athlete is seeking to increase the ability to run off fats by training in a carb depleted state, then benefiting from both fats AND carbs come race day). Likewise, with the brain, even though the brain can function off ketones, does it mean it’s the best state for brain function?
Full disclosure: after carrying out the background research, I was already, as you might imagine, feeling a little less neutral about these products. You may have noticed a hint of that in part 1 of the 2-part video series we made about the project (watch part 2 at the top of this page!). However, and although this was by no means a controlled scientific study under laboratory conditions, we designed the experiment in a very objective way. The aim was to give the supplements the best possible chance of showing the benefits they are claimed to have.
As Dr. Ryan Lowery pointed out to me, ketone supplements could play an important role in the future for elite sports performance, for example, or for people with brain injuries who cannot metabolize glucose properly. I am encouraged that scientists are working to develop these possibilities and, as long as plenty of peer-reviewed scientific research is done into the products being developed, I could feel more positive about the ketone salts in the future. For now, that scientific support is lacking.
We carried out the testing across five different days, leaving at least two days between the different testing days so that my teammates had time to recover from the physical performance test each time. The reason we needed five days was that we included a placebo (an artificially flavored drink with no caffeine content) alongside the four brands we tested. Our teammates didn’t know that one of the supplements was a placebo. We also gave everyone a different supplement each time, to rule out any improvement in the tests being a result of people simply getting better at those tests over time.
I think almost everyone agrees with me when I say that the ketogenic diet is probably one of the most complex and difficult eating plans out there. Even when you’re not on a diet or trying to lose weight you still have to bring a lot of attention to detail. Getting into ketosis isn’t as important as we would think, but there are still 5 simple steps we can make to get into a ketotic state.
We tested the effects of 28-day administration of five ketone supplements on blood glucose, ketones, and lipids in male Sprague–Dawley rats. The supplements included: 1,3-butanediol (BD), a sodium/potassium β-hydroxybutyrate (βHB) mineral salt (BMS), medium chain triglyceride oil (MCT), BMS + MCT 1:1 mixture, and 1,3 butanediol acetoacetate diester (KE). Rats received a daily 5–10 g/kg dose of their respective ketone supplement via intragastric gavage during treatment. Weekly whole blood samples were taken for analysis of glucose and βHB at baseline and, 0.5, 1, 4, 8, and 12 h post-gavage, or until βHB returned to baseline. At 28 days, triglycerides, total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) were measured.
Meanwhile Brinkworth, et al., in their 2009 paper "Long-term Effects of a Very Low-Carbohydrate Diet and a Low-Fat Diet on Mood and Cognitive Function" looked at the effects on ketogenic diet on cognitive function and mood. The study participants ate a ketogenic diet for a year and the researchers found that mood levels decreased when compared to a group eating a high carb/low fat diet. They go on to remark “there was no evidence that the dietary macronutrient composition of LC and LF diets affected cognitive functioning over the long term, as changes in cognitive function were similar for both diets”.
I think almost everyone agrees with me when I say that the ketogenic diet is probably one of the most complex and difficult eating plans out there. Even when you’re not on a diet or trying to lose weight you still have to bring a lot of attention to detail. Getting into ketosis isn’t as important as we would think, but there are still 5 simple steps we can make to get into a ketotic state.

Intense exercise — more than just fidgeting or pacing — uses ketones, when glucose is in short supply, which means the body has to create more ketones to replace what you use. This is great for those who are used to a moderate to intense activity level, but intensity is a fine dance between encouraging ketone production and elevating cortisol for the rest of us.

Hi! I have what might be a silly question about using these supplements. What happens if you are taking them and your diet goes off the rails, like you take the Keto//OS and then eat a bunch of pizza or chocolate. Does your body just immediately revert back to using the carbs for energy instead of the ketones? Or, if it doesn’t, would that mean your body would just store those carbs as fat? I realize that ideally you wouldn’t eat the pizza, but sometimes I do and I worry about what exactly I’m doing to my body if I’ve also taken ketones.

Good question. There have been many tests and studies that have been conducted to see if ketogenic supplements genuinely do work and many of these studies have shown that ketosis theories are correct. Adding ketones to your body and using fats as a resource of energy has some fantastic effects and if done right can help your body fight all sorts of ailments such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and many other illnesses that can only be cured by chemical therapy. Keto therapy or nutritional ketosis is paving the way for more natural solutions, and it's a good thing that scientists have created these exogenous ketone supplements that help us induce more ketones in our body.

Is keto safe? Putting yourself through this type of therapy isn't always easy and the process can take some getting used to, in particular during the initial stages when people must go through a period of fasting in order to raise ketone bodies faster. Of course, by doing this, it can put your body through a bit of shock and may cause a person to experience some short-term side effects until their bodies begin to adapt to the lifestyle and any BHB supplement they may be taking.

This is an excellent resource. Thank you for all the work and resources you found. i had never even heard of Adkins 72. I am keto but I always let Sunday be my high Carb cheat day.So im learning from this blog how to get back in ketosis in 24 hours after my 4pm meal on Sunday The Lords & family day. So im 25hr fasting. I would like to reference this article on my blog, thanks for helping me on my 100 lb lost journey.
Blood glucose concentrations are decreased during both exogenous and endogenous ketosis, although by different mechanisms. During endogenous ketosis, dietary carbohydrate deficit is the underlying cause of low blood glucose, along with reduced hepatic gluconeogenesis and increased ketone production (Cahill et al., 1966). With exogenous ketosis, carbohydrate stores are plentiful, yet ketones appear to lower blood glucose through limiting hepatic gluconeogenesis and increasing peripheral glucose uptake (Mikkelsen et al., 2015). One clinical use of the ketogenic diet is to improve blood glucose control, yet the elevated blood FFA may increase the risk of heart failure (Holloway et al., 2009). Thus, the ability of exogenous ketones to lower blood glucose without elevating blood FFA concentrations could deliver the desired effect of the diet, whilst also decreasing a potential risk.
Exogenous ketones have become a popular nutritional supplement since their introduction in 2014. Unfortunately there is a lot of inaccurate information and marketing you have to read through to find the truth about them. This article does the hard work for you. It gets right to the true benefits and drawbacks of exogenous ketones supported by research studies.
As stated above, there appears to be a difference between supplemental and dietary calcium intake, which can be important to keep in mind. One study found aggregate calcium intakes above 1400 mg per day (from dietary and supplemental intake combined) to be associated with higher death rates, cardiovascular disease, and ischemic heart disease in women[15]. A 2014 meta-analysis found an association between dietary calcium intake and cardiovascular mortality[16]. The meta-analysis actually found a u-shaped relationship, where dietary calcium intakes that were both lower and greater than 800 mg/day were gradually associated with increased risk of cardiovascular mortality.
Ketogenic diets have been successfully used to treat diseases that have an underlying metabolic component, effectively decreasing seizures in recalcitrant pediatric epilepsy (Kossoff et al., 2003), lowering blood glucose concentrations in type 2 diabetes mellitus (Feinman et al., 2015) and aiding weight-loss (Bueno et al., 2013). Emerging evidence supports several clinical uses of ketogenic diets, for example in neurodegenerative diseases (Vanitallie et al., 2005), specific genetic disorders of metabolism (Veech, 2004) and as an adjunct to cancer therapy (Nebeling et al., 1995). Ketone bodies themselves may underlie the efficacy of the ketogenic diet, either through their role as a respiratory fuel, by altering the use of carbohydrate, protein and lipids (Thompson and Wu, 1991; Cox et al., 2016), or through other extra- and intracellular signaling effects (Newman and Verdin, 2014). Furthermore, ketone metabolism may offer a strategy to improve endurance performance and recovery from exercise (Cox et al., 2016; Evans et al., 2017; Holdsworth et al., 2017; Vandoorne et al., 2017). However, achieving compliance to a ketogenic diet can be difficult for both patients and athletes and may have undesirable side effects, such as gastro-intestinal upset (Cai et al., 2017), dyslipidemia (Kwiterovich et al., 2003) or decreased exercise “efficiency” (Edwards et al., 2011; Burke et al., 2016). Hence, alternative methods to raise blood ketone concentrations have been sought to provide the benefits of a ketogenic diet with no other dietary changes.
There are enticing anecdotes of supplemental ketones being used to boost human physical performance in competitive events, notably among elite cyclists. Given that BOHB can deliver more energy per unit of oxygen consumed than either glucose or fatty acids (Sato 1995, Cox 2016, Murray 2016), this makes sense. But what we do not know is if there is any required period of adaptation to the use of exogenous ketones, and thus how to employ them in training. It is clear that exogenous ketones decrease adipose tissue lipolysis and availability of fatty acids, the exact opposite to what happens on a well formulated ketogenic diet. This distinction between exogenous ketones and ketogenic diets on adipose tissue physiology and human energy balance underscores an important reason why these two ketone-boosting strategies should not be conflated.
Exercise or performing an extensive workout during the day is a perfect way to burn all those glycogen reserves in your body. Performing a HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training is a perfect type of exercise to do this. So, the next morning when you are awake, get set on an intense exercise session (remember, in the morning, not the afternoon). This will keep the cortisol level lowered during the evening when you wish to have some rest.
Electrolyte Imbalance – The physiological reasoning behind electrolytes becoming depleted during a state of ketosis is due to lack of water retention and frequent urination. When supplementing with exogenous ketones, the acute state of ketosis will likely increase the frequency of urination, but it won’t deplete glycogen stores. Therefore, it may be useful to drink an electrolyte solution if you are urinating a lot after taking exogenous ketones, but it’s dependent upon how you feel.

At baseline, 4 h after intragastric gavage, the elevation of blood ketones was inversely related to the reduction of blood glucose compared to controls following the administration of MCT (5 g/kg) (p = 0.008) and BMS + MCT (5 g/kg) (p = 0.039) . There was no significant correlation between blood ketone levels and blood glucose levels compared to controls for any other ketone supplemented group at baseline (Fig. 4a). At week 4, 4 h after intragastric gavage, there was a significant correlation between blood ketone levels and blood glucose levels compared to controls in MCT (10 g/kg) and BMS + MCT (10 g/kg) (p
Hello! We have a section on this in our weight loss plateau post—it’s fine to use them, but be careful if you have any digestive issues as a result of them, and make sure they’re not interfering with your weight loss goals. “In addition to potentially contributing too many calories, sources of fat like coconut oil (including concentrated supplements) contain medium chain triglycerides (MCT). These cannot be stored in body fat, meaning that whatever is consumed has to be promptly burned for energy. So you’re adding these sources on top of your dietary fat consumption for satiety, this type of fat takes priority. Often times people fall into the trap of adding supplements of coconut oil or straight up MCT oil and it ends up adding extra calories. Yes, it may raise your ketones a bit, but the overall cost may impact your weight loss.”

Price: The supplements are expensive – very expensive. At the top end, if you follow Prüvit’s guidelines on “getting in the n8tive zone” (which is such a gimmicky marketing slogan it almost makes me cringe), you will require 2 servings of their Keto-OS product per day. This means around 60 servings per month, which will set you back a whopping $390 per month if you buy direct from their website! In the case of Prüvit, this is in part due to the multi-level marketing structure they operate under.

When you restrict carbs, the kidneys excrete a lot of sodium. Not replacing this sodium can leave you feeling light headed. I recommend having a big glass of spring water with ½ teaspoon of Celtic sea salt twice a day (first thing in the morning and midafternoon are two times that work well). A long with this, make sure you use a lot of salt on your meals.
There is a great deal of positive speculation that exogenous ketones can be beneficial for inflammation, cognitive enhancement, and even protection against certain types of cancer. There is mounting evidence that the ketogenic way of eating can help many people, and when used appropriately with realistic expectations, exogenous ketone supplementation can enhance these positive effects (25).

Appetite suppression: Appetite was measured in 10 males and 5 females after consuming a ketone ester (KE) or a dextrose (DEXT) drink . Desire to eat and perception of hunger dropped after both drinks, but the KE was 50% more effective for 1.5-4hrs. Insulin levels rose for both drinks but were 3x less with the KE drink after 30mins (Fig 2). The hunger hormone, ghrelin, was significantly lower between 2 to 4 hours after drinking the KE (Fig 2). In conclusion Ketone esters delay the onset of hunger and lower the desire to eat. 8

An effective ketosis program requires that you control your appetite. Caffeine has been proven to be an excellent appetite suppressant. It can curb your appetite and reduce your cravings for food. If you are finding it hard to implement intermittent fasting, try to introduce coffee into the equation. If you are not into coffee drinks, try to take tea or use caffeine pills. Both of them contain caffeine, which can help you to adjust smoothly into fasting.

If you noticed that you're not getting into ketosis quick enough, chances are you're not eating enough fat. Eating plenty of healthy fat is essential in inducing ketosis. One reason why this is so is that your body makes ketones from fat. The other reason being that fat is highly satiating, so your body won't slow down or start breaking down muscle for fuel.

The fate of excess ketones: In the event someone has an excessive amount of ketones in the blood, the body (specifically the kidneys) will work as quickly as possible to filter out ketones via urine rather than converting them to adipose tissue.9 This is not to say that you can’t gain fat if you consume an exorbitant amount of exogenous ketones, but that they are less prone to be converted to fat than other nutrients.
The other potentially important distinction between nutritional ketosis and chemically-induced ketosis is the potential metabolic role played by liver AcAc production and redox status. Although the ratio of BOHB to AcAc in venous blood is typically 80% to 20%, classic studies by Cahill (1975) have observed important hepatic vein and peripheral arterio-venous gradients for this ratio in keto-adapted patients. What these observations imply is that the liver produces a higher proportion of AcAc than is found in the peripheral blood, and that this is due to uptake of AcAc in peripheral cells (principally muscle) with re-release as BOHB. In the process, the reduction of AcAc to BOHB produces NAD+, which is beneficial to mitochondrial redox state and mitochondrial function (Verdin 2015, Newman 2017).
Effects of ketone supplementation on triglycerides and lipoproteins: Ketone supplementation causes little change in triglycerides and lipoproteins over a 4-week study. Graphs show concentrations at 4-weeks of total cholesterol (a), Triglycerides (b), LDL (c), and HDL (d). MCT supplemented rats had signfiicantly reduced concentration of HDL blood levels compared to control (p
Compared to our other cellular gasoline (carbs), we can store an unlimited supply of energy from ketones in our body within our fat. When you’re reliant on carbohydrates, you’re forced to keep your tank partly full as we can only store just over 2,000 calories of glycogen from carbs. An empty carb tank results in carb-withdrawal symptoms from not being able to switch into a ketone or fat burning metabolism.

Blood glucose concentrations are decreased during both exogenous and endogenous ketosis, although by different mechanisms. During endogenous ketosis, dietary carbohydrate deficit is the underlying cause of low blood glucose, along with reduced hepatic gluconeogenesis and increased ketone production (Cahill et al., 1966). With exogenous ketosis, carbohydrate stores are plentiful, yet ketones appear to lower blood glucose through limiting hepatic gluconeogenesis and increasing peripheral glucose uptake (Mikkelsen et al., 2015). One clinical use of the ketogenic diet is to improve blood glucose control, yet the elevated blood FFA may increase the risk of heart failure (Holloway et al., 2009). Thus, the ability of exogenous ketones to lower blood glucose without elevating blood FFA concentrations could deliver the desired effect of the diet, whilst also decreasing a potential risk.

Even though endurance athletes can train in a carb depleted state, they will generally consume carbohydrates in the lead up to a race (the athlete is seeking to increase the ability to run off fats by training in a carb depleted state, then benefiting from both fats AND carbs come race day). Likewise, with the brain, even though the brain can function off ketones, does it mean it’s the best state for brain function?
MCT Oil is a keto supplement that helps your body make ketones. The oil contains pure medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which are types of fatty acids that your body prefers using for immediate energy. Unlike long-chain fatty acids, MCTs don't require enzymes and bile for digestion and they go straight to the liver where they are used for making free fatty acids or ketones. Studies on MCTs show that they promote weight loss [5].
Currently, we lack enough evidence to change the recommendations for calcium intake. The Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for adults 19-50 years old is 2500 mg. This is well over the RDA of 1000 mg for the same age group. Calcium supplements commonly contain 600-1200 mg. When assessing your own calcium intake, keep in mind that calcium from food sources and calcium from supplements may have different outcomes.
Your body is trained to use glucose as its main energy source, but when you decrease your consumption of carbs, your body turns to another source of energy that is naturally produced by our own bodies--fat. Therefore, a great way to lose weight faster is to consume low-carb fruits, vegetables and other food that are specially designed for a low-carb diet.
EK use can be compared to the nootropics that have been developed for optimizing focus, memory creation, and faster cognitive performance. While you may not notice this effect on a minute to minute basis if you keep a journal of “forgetful moments” you’ll find that you have fewer of them as time goes on. You’ll also find that you’re able to come up with better ideas, and your workflow is more efficient through the day (10, 11).
BHB easily crosses the blood-brain barrier resulting in easily accessible energy to the brain and muscle tissues, becoming a source of energy after entering the mitochondria, being converted to Acetyl-CoA, and then ATP through the Krebs cycle (the same process that glucose goes through to become ATP). This ultimately results in many direct benefits, including:

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Medical Disclaimer: The material on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.